TRP: Mishka and Rieka (Fourth Meeting)
COYOTE Several months before the campaign starts, during the time period where Mishka thinks Hansel is dead. The day after Mishka found out Hansel’s ship had wrecked and washed ashore in pieces, he decided it was fine, and no big deal, because really, Rexarius was just going to make him kill Hansel anyway, and this way, at least, Mishka didn’t have to do it himself. This was good. It was good. A week after Hansel died, Mishka did the stupidest thing he could think of— which was he put on his finest and flashiest jewelry, took off all his weapons, and he went down to the seediest and most dangerous tavern in town, and then he got wasted, put his head down in the table, and waited for someone to come kill him and take his stuff. ABBY Rieka was having a pretty decent day. She'd mouthed off to one of them Helmite clerics, and Ensign managed to drag her off without anyone getting smote. Then she'd intimidated a nobleman into giving the beggar kids some coin-- and convinced the beggar kids not to stick a knife in his kidney. She'd broke off from her two friends for now. They had important stuff to do. Rieka was just gonna go get drunk. She found a seedy tavern and waltzed on in. There was a drunk guy covered in fancy clothes and jewelry. Rieka was pretty surprised he hadn't got his throat slit yet. Not to worry though, she'd take care of it. She clomped on over and thumped down next to him, patting his shoulder. "Heeeey," she said. "Y'know you're asking to get shanked right? Don't you worry though, I gotcha covered. Anyone even looks at you funny and--" she made a sputtery noise that was supposed to sound like an eldritch blast. It sounded more like someone farted. COYOTE “Fuck off,” Mishka said. “I don’t need someone covering my back. You find somebody to shank me, send ‘em my way.” Maybe he should put on the mask and make himself look like somebody else. He was pretty sure everybody in this bar was too scared to fuck with him. Probably figured the unarmed-and-rich thing was a trap. He was Mishka Haeth. ABBY Hey. Wait. Rieka knew this guy! "Hey! You're Cap'n Mikhael fuckin' Haeth!" she said, grinning widely. Wait should she be pissed or excited? Eh whatever. "You remember me? You chucked me overboard in a rowboat one time." COYOTE “Oh.” Mishka blinked at her and tried to focus. His head hurt. “You... you’re...” ABBY Rieka nodded enthusiastically. "Rieka! Rieka Wolfsbane." She grabbed Mishka's hand and pumped it a few times. "Fancy meeting you here!" COYOTE Mishka flinched, snatching his hand away. Normally, he’d stifle the gesture or try to soften, hide his discomfort, but he didn’t have the energy today. “Rieka,” he said. “That’s your name.” Then: “Don’t... don’t touch me.” ABBY Rieka frowned, concerned. Hadn't been all that happy about that. "Sorry," she said, scooting a little farther away too. "You okay there?" she asked, studying him. He didn't look all that great. Kinda, worn down. COYOTE “No,” Mishka said. “No, I am not fine. My husband is died. I think so anyway. I keep trying to scry him and nothing pops up. Weirdest thing. Part of his ship washed up on shore. Fuck me, right?” He said it all calmly, casually, and then took another drink. ABBY Husband, died. Rieka felt like she'd been doused in icewater. The rest of it didn't fully sink in. "Uh, yeah, yeah," she agreed, realizing she'd been quiet too long. She fumbled for her flask, downing a good couple swallows. "Fuck." COYOTE Mishka kicked up his feet on a nearby chair and stared, dead-eyed, into space. ABBY Rieka stared off too. Real awful thing to happen, that. She turned her flask around in her hand a few times. Part of her wanted to just split-- but another good chunk of her was worried about the pirate. He was a dick but, Rieka kinda liked him. Couldn't bring herself to say anything else about the husband-- couldn't. So instead. "Hey throw anyone off any rowboats lately?" she said weakly. Bad attempt at a joke. COYOTE Mishka focused on her again. He looked dazed, eyes red, face slack. Huh. Rieka looked upset. “What’d I do?” he asked slowly. ABBY "Uh. You... threw me off in a rowboat?" Rieka tried. Didn't really get what he was asking. He did not look good. COYOTE “No, I mean... you... I said something. Just now. And it upset you.” He sounded puzzled. ABBY Ah-- so he wasn't an oblivious drunk. There was a pretty simple explanation, here. I had a fiancé but he died. You brought up bad memories. But the words stuck in her throat. Or even further down. "It's nothin," she said shortly. "Hey whatdya say we get you a room, get you tucked in somewhere? I can--" Oh no wait, she was broke. Haeth had enough to just about buy the place out though. "I'm sure they'll trade ya a night for one of those trinkets," she said, gesturing to his jewelry. COYOTE “Got an estate. Don’t need to.” ABBY "Huh. Never figured you pirates for the estate buyin' types," Rieka said thougthfully. COYOTE “Mhm. Stole a bunch of stuff. Sold it. Decided to retire. Why won’t you tell me what’s wrong? You wouldn’t last time, either.” He laid his head on the table sideways and closed his eyes. ABBY Last time-- oh yeah. The anniversary. Rieka could barely remember it. "Yeah well let's just say I don't stay drunk for the hell of it," she said. "C'mon. I'll help you back to your estate, you can sleep this off, and..." Rieka trailed off. And then what? Get drunk again? That's what Rieka did. COYOTE Mishka didn’t budge. ABBY Rieka scratched the back of her neck. Haeth didn't wanna be touched. So that meant picking him up and hauling him was off the table. Did mean she was out of any other ideas. Wait, maybe she had one. "Hey! I'll tell you a story if you let me take you back home?" Rieka said. "I'll even do my best to make it a good one this time." COYOTE "Sure," Mishka said. "Go ahead." ABBY Success! Rieka got up, and waited for Mishka to follow. COYOTE Mishka rested his face on his arm and said, "No, no, no. This won't do." His voice was slow and slurred. "How do I know you won't take me home and not tell me the story? Tell me the story first and then I'll come. Very important. You might be a liar." ABBY Rieka scratched the back of her neck. Her had a point, but then again. "What if I tell you the story and then you decide not to come?" She asked. COYOTE "I suppose you'll just have to trust me." ABBY Rieka frowned. Telling the depressed drunk guy that Rieka didn't trust him would probably not go over well. Rieka'd been there. Arguably still was. "How about I tell it as we walk?" She suggested. "I'll give you my weapons so you can take me captive, so you can make sure I stick around till the story is done. How about that?" COYOTE Mishka considered this, narrow-eyed, then briefly shook his head. "Nah," he said, then held up his finger. He took a long, long, long drink, finishing off a mug of ale from top to bottom, then set it down. "You caught me," he said. "I'm a fucking liar. An' a cheat. An' a... motherfucking... backstabber. Was gonna just... take the story and not come with. Shouldn't be trusted." He put his head down again, and, without looking at her, thickly said, "You should just fucking kill me. I killed him. I killed him. He trusted me and he loved me and-- he was the only one, the only one, and I kill him. I oughta die. I wanna die. I wanna die so fucking bad but I can't do it myself. I'm too scared." ABBY Rieka had to take a second. Deep breaths in, deep breaths out. I killed him. Not as much as Rieka'd killed hers. Just a figure of speech. She was so unqualified to handle this mess. "Yeah, well, I'm not gonna kill you," she said roughly. "Came over to protect you." Cept what he needed protecting from was himself. Rieka was so, so unqualified for this. "You ain't making it easy," she said wryly. COYOTE Mishka opened one eye to give her a white-hot look. "Don't need anyone's fucking protection," Mishka said. "I can fucking help myself just fine." ABBY Ah. That'd been the wrong thing to say. "Sorry," Rieka said, digging out her flask for another swig. "I thought maybe you did. Course you're Cap'n Haeth, dont need anyone's help," she gestured broadly around the bar. Except to die but Rieka wasn't about to say that aloud. COYOTE Mishka hiccupped. He closed his eyes miserably, and said, "I need-- Hansel's help." Tears slid down his face. ABBY Rieka wished his Hansel was there. That was a pain she wouldn't wish on anyone. He wasn't though. And Rieka didn't know any way to make it better. So she started grabbing chairs, shuffling them over to form a barricade around Mishka's table. COYOTE Mishka opened his eyes again at the noise, then narrowed them. He abruptly stood up, shoving himself away from the table. He stared at Rieka a moment, wavering, then headed angrily for the door. ABBY Rieka hesitated a moment, still holding a chair. Then the irritated patron she'd taken it from started yelling at her, so she shoved it in his arms and followed Mishka out. She didn't follow, just wanted to see where he was headed. COYOTE Mishka headed up the hill to his estate. If this motherfucker was gonna try to help him, he was just gonna go drink in his saferoom instead. ABBY Riela watched Miskha go until he vanished. Didn't know where he was going, or what he'd do when he got there. If he'd still be there next time she hit Skyport or not. Rieka kinda hoped he would. Couldn't do anything more though. So she headed back to hunt down her friends. Maybe getting into a good old fashioned brawl with Ensign would cheer her up. END COYOTE Title: Fourth Meeting Summary: Rieka meets Mishka a fourth and final time before the present day. She meets him at a bar, where Mishka is devastated after Hansel's apparent death. Rieka tries to get him home safely, but Mishka is too angry at himself and refuses help. Category:Text Roleplay